Alternate Ending to Ender's Game
by HazeOfTheMoon
Summary: Title explains it all, please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Ender glanced up from his spot on the floor as he heard a knock on the door, wondering who would want to talk to him. After all, what was there left for him to do or say? They'd won the war against the buggers and had all accepted the Locke Proposal. After a few more moments of waiting, the door slowly slid open and Mazer walked in.

"Alright Ender, I'll say this straight. They've made the decision to send you back home. I'd reckon you've spent enough time out among the stars, so you ought to be happy." Mazer stated calmly, leaning against the doorframe as he stared at Ender, waiting for the boy's reaction.

Ender did open his mouth to say something at first, but then he thought better of himself and quickly closed it. So he was going back home… home where Peter and Val were, where he was simply a normal Third, not a twelve year old boy who'd exploded the bugger's planet without even knowing it at the time. Though… he wasn't too sad about seeing Valentine again; she had always been so nice to him when he would get bullied or harassed by Peter.

While Ender was deep in thought, Mazer simply stared at him and waited for him to at least say something, but of course knowing him, the boy would probably just nod and agree to whatever they wanted to do to him.

"Your shuttle leaves at 1630, so don't be late." The commander simply said before stalking out of the room without bothering to shut the door behind him.

Ender watched him go before standing up and looking around the tiny space that had been his for the past however long he'd been here. Simple white walls, his bed. Not really much for him to take home. So he turned and walked out of the room without another thought.

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**A/N: Hello again :) Just something I have to write for school, so I thought I'd put it here for you to read. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Eventually, the time came for Ender to get onto his shuttle and leave the little meteor in the distance. What would Earth be like? Ruined by the Leauge War, with nothing around for miles that he would recognize? No… that couldn't possibly be the case. If that were so, surely they would not be sending him back to the planet his called home. So there would have to be something left, even it was the remains of a country here and there.

Distracted by footsteps coming towards him, Ender glanced up as Graff came to a stop in front of where he sat inside the shuttle. He was coming with them? Or maybe he was just with him to make sure that he got back safely, and then the man would go back up to space and deal with whatever things he did.

"Come on Ender, look a little livelier. You get to go home, boy! Isn't seeing those two siblings of yours going to be a good thing? You'll get to go to school, hang out with your friends. Anything you like. They've watched those videos of you commanding the ships, you know. They all think you're a hero." Graff shrugged lightly and sat down across form Ender, buckling the straps that would keep him in place while they were in null gravity.

The boy in return simply averted his gaze and zoned out for a while, and the next thing he knew, the shuttle had landed and there was someone shaking Ender's arm.

"Come on kid, time to face the world." Graff encouraged, undoing the buckles and pulling Ender up out of his seat and down the short room.

Ender blinked as they walked out into the open, and the first thing he caught sight of was the sun. Bright, warm sunlight on his pale skin… He'd been in space so long he had almost forgot what it felt like.

The next thing he felt was the fresh air blown into his face by a slight breeze that rustled the tree leaves and made the hot day seem less agonizing.

"Come on Ender, your family is waiting back at your house. You'll like it there." Graff continued, causing Ender to once more break free from the cozy confines of his thoughts.

Tripping on the rock every once in a while, Ender's eyes scanned the green landscape behind him. There seemed to be almost no trace of a war or any hardships. How long had that shuttle trip been? Maybe they'd had a while to clean up before he arrived…. Or maybe they had just made this place seem as nice as they could make it so that he wouldn't spend his time worrying about the outside world and all those people living in poverty.

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**A/N: Another short chapter. Please Read&Review?**


	3. Chapter 3

"Andrew!" His mother greeted as soon as he walked into the door, giving her son a tight hug. "We are so glad you came back alive and well. We watched all of the footage with your voice commanding those fleets, it was so brave! But of course, it must have also been terrifying knowing that our fate was in your hands."

Ender watched her with blank eyes, for a moment not remembering that they all thought he'd known about it when he was playing the "game" against "Mazer." They didn't know that the whole thing hadn't been real for him. After a while, he simply nodded a little but still stayed silent. No, not because he was afraid to do so but rather because he didn't feel like telling them everything he had done in great detail.

"Oh and everyone at school will be so jealous!" Valentine added in an excited voice, a huge smile on her face.

He would've been happy about that except for the fact that he had to go to school still. Back to Miss Pumphrey and Stilson and the rest of them? Ender bit his lip and looked away quickly.

Didn't Battle School count as anything? There, he'd done far more dangerous and advanced things, but he didn't care. He enjoyed being challenged, something that had never happened down on Earth. In Battle School, he hadn't been treated like a freak, or a Third. Yes, people may have disliked him, but that was nothing unusual. It was only natural to be wary of those who have a faster, cleverer mind than you did. Any threats that were taken seriously were almost always taken care of in the relatively safe null gravity rooms and not the bus stop after school where there was no one else around to help him.

However, Ender could not tell his family about any of that. To them, he was simply a genius who was supposed to have everything he wanted and never got harassed by his schoolmates. So he simply nodded little and made a weak attempt to smile, but he was sure it looked more like a grimace.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day at school, Ender was slowly walking to the bus stop, actually surprised that Stilson had not decided to come in and make fun of him yet. He had high hopes that maybe the taller, stronger boy would decide to be a little easier on him since he had in fact saved the world.

If only his hopes came true. Soon enough, Stilson walked up to Ender with a big sneer on his face. "Hey Bugger Killer!" He greeted and then laughed loudly.

That was apparently his new title around school. Bugger Killer. He didn't really mind the name all that much, but at times it could be annoying. Though, he didn't like being called Third or fart eater either, so it was really just a lose-lose situation.

Anyway, he had earned that new name how most people would think he did. Everyone had watched the videos with his voice commanding the fleets of starships, looking closely as he blew up their planet. Nothing had been censored, nothing taken out or edited to make the fight look fairer. But… the thought did come to him that if they had watched the videos, why didn't they have more respect for him? He was the one who had saved life as they knew it, and this was what he got?

Some people just couldn't win, could they?

"Bugger Killer, you going to answer me?" Stilson continued, causing Ender to break free from the solitude in his mind.

"Hello Stilson. I see you haven't changed at all." Ender greeted quietly, averting his gaze and staring up at a wisp of fluffy white clouds in the sky.

"Nah, I've just been living my normal life here. Unlike you, though, up in space with all those buggers and whatnot, right? I bet that was so exciting…" Stilson raised an eyebrow, his tone sarcastic and unbelieving. It was obvious that he still didn't believe that Ender had reached any of those great feats.

"Not really. Just a lot of hard work." Ender replied absently, his gaze wandering over to the large yellow bus that he could see trudging slowly down the long street. Why couldn't it go faster? He was anxious to get out of the other boy's clutches.

Stilson bit his lip and glared at Ender for a moment, wishing the kid would just speak up and answer his questions. "Fine." He muttered under his breath and began to walk away on the lonely sidewalk.

Ender couldn't help but let a small smile come to his face, beyond happy that he'd finally got his schoolmate to go away without having to resort to violence and the like.

Soon, the bus came to an achingly long, squeaky stop next to him and opened up the yellow door. A mob of kids that lived near Ender jumped on, leaving him to stand alone. Finally, he seemed to pull himself out of his trace and walk up the high stairs. Of course, still no seat for him anywhere on the bus except for the one right next to the bus driver. That seat was especially undesirable because if you did sit there, you would practically be watched by the bus driver the whole trip home. Not like he cared all that much though, since he wasn't the most active, mischievous boy on the bus.

Ender sank into his seat quietly, his gaze on the window while he placed his school bag onto the worn, gray leather bench-like seat. Just as the doors were about to close, a girl ran onto the bus and quickly sat down in the little space between Ender's bag and the edge of the bench.

_Why would she want to sit next to me?_ Ender wondered, studying the girl. She appeared about his age, maybe a little older, with deep green eyes and a paler skin tone. Her hair was fluffy and long, cut into a spikey pattern that framed her delicate face. Was she new at the school? He certainly had never seen her before….

"Hi, I'm Raven, but you can call me anything you like. You know, like freak or something. That's what the guys in my toon called me." The girl greeted in a soft voice, only meeting his gaze for a moment before she glanced away. Did she… maybe she was shy to talk to him? That was certainly a logical reason. He himself had been rather distant when it came to having a social life way back then.

"Nice to meet you, Raven. I'm Ender." He replied in a mostly blank voice, struggling to give her a small smile.

Raven seemed to be surprised that he had spoken to her, and that really made Ender wonder why. Though, her next words did answer his internal monologue;

"Oh… So you're the guy who was up in space, leading the missions against the buggers? That's cool." She replied with a tiny smirk, shrugging. "I was up there for a while too, in Battle School. But they didn't appreciate having a smart girl there, so I got kicked out and now I'm back here. Sucks, huh?"

"Yeah, what section were you in?" Ender asked, for once happy to have someone to talk to on the bus.

"Alligator."

"Really? I remember playing against that team…but there wasn't a girl on it…" He said, a little confused at the moment.

"Oh, well they made me sit out. I was pretty much ignored by the whole team. The only kid who paid any attention to me was a little guy who probably had a huge crush on me…" Raven laughed, making it seem like the whole idea of someone ever liking her was ridiculous.

"That's… ah… good?" Ender said uncertainly, and then quickly spoke again when he saw her dark glare at the word 'good.' "Um, no, never mind. That's bad. Definitely bad."

Raven huffed and absently picked at a tearing piece of leather on the seat. "I know. You probably think everyone should like me. Well, they don't. No one does."

"I'm sure tons of people do. I think you're a pretty good person." He told her honestly, but then looked up as the bus came to a stop. "Well, it was nice meeting you Raven, but I have to go…"

Raven raised an eyebrow as she also stood up. "Ah, so you're our neighbor? My mom told me they had a boy my age." She shrugged a little before turning around and walking down the stairs of the bus and across the street to her home.

Ender, ironically, followed right after Raven, only he went into the house right next to hers.


	5. Chapter 5

Ender sighed inwardly as he stared up at the plain white ceiling, not wanting to have to get up. Though, apparently there was someone coming to see him today about a "special, unique offer," so he didn't have to go to school. There was one thing he was sad about the more he thought about it… Raven seemed like a nice girl, and he had hoped to become friends with her. Maybe it was someone like Graff coming to talk to him about some special offer for him to visit the bugger planet.

"Andrew! Your visitor is here!" He heard his mother call from outside the door. That was another thing; he got more privacy now that he was the savior of the world. This was nice in some aspects, but not so much in others.

Anyway, Ender slowly slid out from under the cozy blankets and pulled on his regular clothes. Such soft things compared to the things he'd had to wear out in space… but they were also a lot more complex. So many buttons and zippers and things you had to remember to tie. In space, you just had your few suits to switch off wearing and then you were done getting dressed. Plus, up there, no one even cared what you were wearing. He remembered more than a few occasions when boys would run around without their suits on, and no one thought anything about it.

As he slowly traveled down the stairs, he peeked around the corner as he heard hushed voices. Were they trying to keep a secret from him? Hmm…

"Oh, good. You're awake. Andrew, this is General Gale. He has such an exciting proposal for you!" Ender's mother said excitedly while carefully taking his arm and pulling him into the pristine living room.

"Andrew," The man began in a deep, soothing voice.

"It's Ender." The boy interrupted, not shy at all when he said that.

"Sorry, Ender. We have a special starship that's heading to one of the old bugger planets. Due to your extraordinary actions out in the field these past days, and not to mention your feat of killing off the race, we have decided to invite you to join us. Mind you, the trip only takes about two years on the ship, but in reality it will be about sixty here on Earth. If you choose to go, there will most likely be no coming back for some time, and when you do your family and friends will all be gone." Gale said calmly, not even seeming to have a second thought about what he was asking the traumatized boy to do.

Ender bit the inside of his cheek while he thought, trying to think of a logical answer to the offer. Should he go? But… if he did, Valentine and Peter would both be dead… Not to mention the sweet raven who he had hoped to become acquaintances with. "Who will be on the trip?" He finally asked carefully.

"I will be there for one, as will Mazer and a few of your friends from Battle School. Plus the girl who lives next door now, a certain Raven. We were not going to give the offer to her, but then again you cannot just take a whole group of men to an uninhabited planet and expect them to be able to start a colony there-"

"Not to mention that if you do go, I'm sure you to will become great friends!" His mother suddenly interrupted.

Ender paused, feeling a tad bit overwhelmed by all the people hoping, depending and even betting on his choice. It was just too much… He opened his mouth to say something, but finally just shook his head and took a tentative step back. "No… Can I just have some time to think about this? It's a big decision."

"Of course Ender." General Graff insisted. "It's a hard choice, and we won't rush you like we did for your decision to go to Battle School. Just take your time. You have one week to decide, and then one more after that to make final arrangements, say goodbye, all of that good stuff.

Ender nodded quickly before turning heel and dashing out the back door. Running to his favorite tree that sat right on the border of his and raven's backyard, he climbed up as quickly as he could. Though, just as he reached his favorite perch he spotted something else there. A small tree house that would fit three or four people, a few chairs and a table at most. .. but who could have possibly put it there? If it had been Valentine or Peter, they would have surely told him unless it was meant to be a surprise.

"Boo!" A voice suddenly screeched, causing Ender to jump and almost fall off the branch he had sat on.

"Hah, I scared you didn't I?" Raven asked happily as she leaned against the small entrance of the tree house. "So what brings you up here and not at school?"

Ender paused at her question and averted his gaze quickly while he slowly climbed back up and went into the house. "I had a visitor. They want me to go to the old bugger planet."

Raven's eyes widened as she plopped down onto a small wooden chair that was obviously too small for her. "Me too…" she mumbled and rested her head back against the wall.

"Wait, really?" Ender said, sitting up a little as he watched her. So Raven had gotten in too?

"Yeah. I told them I need some time to think, though. So hopefully they'll give me a few days."

"A few days? They told me I had a week…"

"Probably because you're Ender and you saved all of mankind, so you deserve to have all the special treatment and stuff." Raven scoffed to herself.

"But that's not true!" Ender protested.

"Yes it is. You know it, I know it. Everyone knows it."

Ender chewed on his lip, anxiously looking out the little doorway in order to distract himself. As much as he was protesting her words, he knew they were true.

"Okay, so it's true. Is it really that big of a deal, I mean-" Ender was abruptly cut off as Raven let out a loud scream of exasperation.

"You don't get it!" She wailed before hurrying across the small room and quickly climbing down the side of the tree.

He sat there wide-eyed for a moment, wondering how he could have upset her so badly. It was just his opinion of what was going on…

"Andrew!" His mother suddenly called, her voice worried.

"Just a second!" Ender called back down, backing out of the tree house and easily making the climb back down.

"Oh Andrew, we were so worried for a little while!" Ender's mother exclaimed, reaching forward to take his hand and pull him towards their house.

"I was just talking with a friend…" He muttered, staring down with a slightly glum expression on his face. He was still upset about how Raven had acted, but he supposed it was only natural. Being a well known, looked up to boy such as him at such a young age really did effect his life in many ways. After all, he'd missed many years of his childhood up in space, training for the day when he could obliterate the buggers.

"A friend?" She asked, her expression suspicious now as she looked down on him. "I wasn't aware that any other children lived nearby…."

"Oh. Yeah, really? Raven…." Ender paused, trying to remember if he knew her last name or not. "Ahh, anyway, her name is Raven. She's the same age as me and also got offered a chance to go to the bugger planet."

"Really? Well that's certianly interesting. I'll have to meet her, though. She seems to sound like a nice girl." His mother shrugged slightly and then led Ender inside and shut the door behind him. "Time for lunch."

Ender nodded and paused to stare back out the smudged window at the large, leafy tree where the tree house was just barely visible. Sighing, he took a deep breath and then walked away into the house.

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**Thanks for all the great comments! Please review if you like what you've read so far. This story is due in my class on monday, so there'll probably be a lot more updates starting today.**


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